Tourists hold on for win against Sand Gnats

Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 10:20 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 10:20 p.m.

ASHEVILLE – With their home fans and dogs behind them, the Asheville Tourists held on for a 6-3 win over Savannah on Wednesday night at McCormick Field to increase their lead in the South Atlantic League's Southern Division.

It was Doggies at the Diamond Night, and of the 3,043 fans in attendance, 55 were dogs.

Those dogs were barking their approval of Tourist starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela, who was dominant in his seven innings of work. He kept the Sand Gnats scoreless and allowed four hits while firing six strikeouts against just one walk.

The dogs had more reason to bark in the bottom of the second, as Asheville took the lead for good with two runs. David Dahl led off with a single and then scored on an RBI double by Michael Benjamin. Benjamin advanced to third on a pop fly out to right by Raimel Tapia and then scored on Ryan McMahon's groundout to first.

The Tourists put four more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Correlle Prime ripped an RBI double off the center-field wall, scoring McMahon from second. Two batters later, Max White hit a two-run single, scoring both Prime and Jordan Patterson. White then scored on a Emerson Jimenez groundout.

With the win, Asheville improves to 21-6, which is the best record in the league, and moves to 4 ½ games over Savannah, which falls to 16-10.

The two teams wrap up the series at 7:05 p.m. tonight for Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark. The Tourists then head to Greenville on Friday to begin a four-game series and will return to McCormick on July 23 to begin a seven-game homestand.

<p>ASHEVILLE – With their home fans and dogs behind them, the Asheville Tourists held on for a 6-3 win over Savannah on Wednesday night at McCormick Field to increase their lead in the South Atlantic League's Southern Division.</p><p>It was Doggies at the Diamond Night, and of the 3,043 fans in attendance, 55 were dogs.</p><p>Those dogs were barking their approval of Tourist starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela, who was dominant in his seven innings of work. He kept the Sand Gnats scoreless and allowed four hits while firing six strikeouts against just one walk.</p><p>The dogs had more reason to bark in the bottom of the second, as Asheville took the lead for good with two runs. David Dahl led off with a single and then scored on an RBI double by Michael Benjamin. Benjamin advanced to third on a pop fly out to right by Raimel Tapia and then scored on Ryan McMahon's groundout to first.</p><p>The Tourists put four more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Correlle Prime ripped an RBI double off the center-field wall, scoring McMahon from second. Two batters later, Max White hit a two-run single, scoring both Prime and Jordan Patterson. White then scored on a Emerson Jimenez groundout.</p><p>With the win, Asheville improves to 21-6, which is the best record in the league, and moves to 4 ½ games over Savannah, which falls to 16-10.</p><p>The two teams wrap up the series at 7:05 p.m. tonight for Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark. The Tourists then head to Greenville on Friday to begin a four-game series and will return to McCormick on July 23 to begin a seven-game homestand.</p><p>___</p><p>Reach Hensley at dean.hensley@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7868.</p>